Motor for driving aircraft, located adjacent to undercarriage wheel

Abstract

The invention disclosed is a self-propelled aircraft undercarriage for driving an aircraft on the ground, comprising: an axle; a strut supporting said axle; at least one wheel rotatably mounted on said axle; and drive means for driving said at least one wheel; characterized in that said drive means is disk shaped and is external to said wheel. In one embodiment of the invention, said drive means is mounted on said axle between said strut and said wheel. In a second embodiment, said drive means is mounted on said axle, on the side of said wheel furthest from said strut.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A self-propelled aircraft undercarriage for driving an aircraft on the ground, said undercarriage comprising:
 a. a nose or main landing gear strut supporting an axle with one or more wheels, each wheel being rotatably mounted on said axle; 
 b. drive means for driving each of said one or more wheels to move an aircraft on the ground, wherein said drive means is a motor rotatably mounted over said axle completely externally of said one or more wheels in a selected location comprising on a side of said one or more wheels between said strut and said one or more wheels or on a side of said one more wheels farthest away from said strut, wherein said drive means has a substantially disk-shaped configuration with a length less than a diameter designed to occupy a minimum amount of space, enabling said drive means to be mounted over said axle; and 
 c. coupling means releasably connecting said wheel to said drive means when said drive means is mounted in said selected location completely external to said one or more wheels and connected to said one or more wheels on an aircraft without replacing or modifying said undercarriage. 
 
     
     
       2. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 1 , wherein said drive means is mounted completely externally of said one or more wheels in a selected location on a side of said one or more wheels between said strut and said one or more wheels, and said drive means has a central cut out portion corresponding to a cross-section of said axle. 
     
     
       3. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 1 , wherein said drive means is mounted in a selected location over said axle on a side of said one or more wheels farthest away from said strut and further comprises a release mechanism designed to release said drive means and slide said drive means off said axle. 
     
     
       4. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 1 , wherein said motor is selected from the list comprising electric synchronous AC induction motors, electric asynchronous AC induction motors, high phase order electric induction motors, permanent magnet brushless DC motors, switched reluctance electric motors, variable reluctance electric motors, hydraulic pump/motors, and pneumatic motors. 
     
     
       5. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 4 , wherein said one or more wheels includes drive means engagement means to automatically engage or disengage said drive means from said one or more wheels when a predetermined speed is reached, and said coupling means comprises a mechanical coupling means adapted to releasably connect said drive means to said drive means engagement means on said one or more wheels. 
     
     
       6. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 5 , wherein said mechanical coupling means comprises a clutch, a gear, or a gear train. 
     
     
       7. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 6 , wherein said mechanical coupling means is a clutch and said clutch comprises at least one selected from the list comprising:
 a. teeth on said wheel drive means engagement means and teeth on said drive means, said teeth interlocking to engage said drive means with said one or more wheels; 
 b. magnetorheological fluid to engage said drive means with said one or more wheels; 
 c. said wheel drive means engagement means comprising a friction pad and a friction pad on said drive means, said friction pads meeting to engage said drive means with said one or more wheels; and 
 d. when said drive means includes a rotor, an element connected to the outside of the rotor, wherein said element automatically engages with said one or more wheels when said one or more wheels are driven by centrifugal force originating from the rotor's rotational speed and said element disengages from said one or more wheels when the rotor is not turning regardless of rotation of said one or more wheels. 
 
     
     
       8. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 7 , wherein said drive means includes a rotor, and said clutch comprises an element connected to the outside of the rotor, wherein said element automatically engages with said one or more wheels when said one or more wheels are driven by centrifugal force originating from the rotor's rotational speed, and said element disengages from said one or more wheels when the rotor is not turning, regardless of the rotation of said one or more wheels. 
     
     
       9. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 8 , wherein said clutch is designed to automatically engage when the drive means is rotating and disengage when only the one or more wheels are rotating. 
     
     
       10. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 8 , wherein said clutch is designed to engage and then disengage when the speed of the drive means and the speed of the one or more wheels are identical, whereby clutch operation is simplified and clutch wear is reduced. 
     
     
       11. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 6 , wherein said mechanical coupling means is a gear or gear train and said gear or gear train is adapted to be integral to said motor. 
     
     
       12. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 1 , wherein said coupling means is adapted to automatically connect said drive means to said one or more wheels when said one or more wheels are mounted, whereby said one or more wheels can be removed without disassembly of the drive means. 
     
     
       13. The self-propelled undercarriage of  claim 4 , wherein said motor comprises a high phase order electric motor and said motor includes means for adapting motor speed and torque to values required for moving aircraft on the ground, and said means for adapting motor speed and torque is at least one selected from the list comprising gear converters, torque converters, planetary gear transmissions, and cycloid reducers. 
     
     
       14. The self-propelled aircraft undercarriage of  claim 3 , wherein said drive means mounted in said selected location comprises a heat sink during operation of said drive means to drive said one or more wheels. 
     
     
       15. A self-propelled aircraft undercarriage for driving an aircraft on the ground, said undercarriage comprising:
 a. a nose or main landing gear strut supporting an axle with two wheels, each wheel being rotatably mounted on said axle; 
 b. a pair of drive means, wherein each drive means is a motor having a substantially disk-shaped configuration designed to occupy a minimum amount of space, with a length less than a diameter and a central cut out portion corresponding to a cross-section of said axle enabling said motor to be mounted over said axle and said motor is a high phase order electric motor rotatably mounted over said axle externally of each wheel to drive each said wheel to move an aircraft on the ground, wherein each said motor is mounted completely externally of each said wheel on said axle on a side of said wheel between said strut and said wheel; and 
 c. coupling means designed to provide a selectively engageable and disenagageable connection between each said wheel and each said drive means to drive said wheels when said drive means are drivingly mounted on said axle, wherein said drive means are further configured to be releasably mounted on said axle completely external to said wheels to drive said wheels without replacing or modifying existing undercarriage structures on an aircraft.